avicus

talk out

Cool pets! Do you leave them in your apartment while you're at school? P.S. I get the music reference for "Fermata" , but not the science part.. enlighten me? haha.

I know this is really late, but FWIW Undergrad Institution: Top EE school in Southeast Asia Major(s): EE/Communications Engineering Minor(s): None (did enough coursework in Japanese to satisfy requirements, but no minor granted by the uni) GPA in Major: 4.33/5.00 Overall GPA: 4.01/5.00 Length of Degree: 4 years Position in Class: Top 20% Type of Student: International male GRE Scores (revised/old version): Q: 160 (86%) V: 161 (90%) W: 5.5 (96%) P: - TOEFL/iBT: 117/120 Research Experience: One year research-based Final Year Project (compulsory for all undergrads). Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University scholarship throughout undergrad Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Intern with national utility company Extracurriculars: First violin of string orchestra, reporter with student newspaper, Japanese language certification Special Bonus Points: Good rec letters, good GRE scores, and specific SOP saying that I wanted to study at that uni because of its proximity to national research agencies in my field. Applied: University of Colorado, Boulder (PhD) - Accepted with 2-semester TA-ship and fellowship, via email

I know this is way late, but just thought I'd chime in, just to give you a better picture of the situation for grad applicants in other programs. For my program, (engineering), I applied by Nov 1 (because I'm an international student), got my admit offer on Feb 28, and my funding offer on Mar 22. Judging from the results survey, I was one of the first to be admitted for that uni and that program. So I had to wait a good 3 months before even knowing if I was admitted. The POI said that this season had the highest number of applicants in 10 years. What I'm saying is, not hearing back in 1 month is not a reason to bang your head against the wall. (P.S. I only applied to 1 uni in the US, so you can imagine how high the stakes were for me)

chicken essence

I get you! At least now my parents are more supportive, but only after much explaining that getting a PhD might actually improve, not worsen, my job prospects. I guess when your parents lives in a small town and don't read THAT widely (as in my case), this kind of statements are bound to come from them. My solution: Patience and love. After all, they're my only parents.

Minnie Mouse

stay positive!

way

Hi CHOCTICK, I'm an international student who applied to the CU Boulder Electrical Engineering doctoral program. FWIW, I received my admit offer on 28 Feb, and my funding offer on 22 Mar; both responses came by email. I sent in my application by the deadline for visa students, which was Nov 1 2011. Hope this helps.

mechanical arm

twelve

discrete variable

The Ring

mood buster

down low

mae west

In

LOTR

motor oil

lame

street smart

I took one month off to prepare, spend around 4-5 hours each day, including weekends. Studied Verbal virtually all the time- by memorizing the Princeton Review Revised GRE Verbal Cracked word lists, revised Quant and practiced the AW section by doing mock tests for 1-2 weeks before the actual test. My scores: Verbal 162 (90%) Quantitative 161 (86%) Analytical Writing 5.5 (96%) P.S. Only do this if getting high scores matters much to you, as it did for me (to strengthen my application by making up for average GPA). Otherwise it's not worth it IMHO.

sea urchin

Nice one (Nice username )